UConn Baseball Heads To Virginia Tech For NCAA Tournament

STORRS — — The bright lights will come on Friday night for the UConn baseball team. Some, perhaps, will squint, take time to get used to the glare.

Others have been there.

That's the dynamic of this particular, somewhat puzzling team — a mix of experience and inexperience in the extreme.

"It takes this," LJ Mazzilli said, poking a finger into his own chest. "Heart, desire, belief, confidence and all that stuff. But it has to come from within. You can say all these things, but if you don't believe it inside, you're not going to pull the best out of you."

Mazzilli was drafted by the Twins in the ninth round last June, but came back for his senior season to try to improve his position. He grew into a leadership role, led the Huskies in nearly all offensive categories, hitting .364 with six homers and 49 RBI, and hit the tone-setting home run in the victory over Notre Dame in the Big East final.

On Monday, the Huskies gathered to learn their NCAA Tournament assignment, their reward, and a roar went up on the dining room at the Burton Family Complex when they saw themselves slotted as a No. 4 seed, headed to Blacksburg, Va., to play Virginia Tech at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

"We're excited to be going anywhere," said Carson Cross, redshirt sophomore who will start on the mound for UConn. "When the stage is set high, we like to rise to the stage. It seems like we've done that the past few years I've been here. I think we're going to do it again this weekend."

Mazzilli and Billy Ferriter, a fifth-year senior who was 9-for-18 in the Big East Tournament, have seen it all during their careers at UConn. They were in the lineup when UConn hosted a Regional at Norwich in 2010, and when the Huskies won the Regional at Clemson in 2011, reaching the Super Regionals for the first time in school history.

"We don't have any pressure on us now," Ferriter said. "The past times we been there, we were expected to be there. Now we're not expected. We kind of snuck in the back door. … We have a shot to make something happen just being there."

"When you play on the big stage, in the big scenarios, that's when you play the best — when you believe you should be there," Mazzilli said, "and you know you've put the work in to be successful in the moment."

But this year, the Huskies seemed lost, having lost 11 of their last 12 Big East games to finish in eighth place.

"It was hard to figure out how to reach this team," Ferriter said. "We're all bonded pretty close, but the kids are different than in the past."

Said Mazzilli: "We were so young and lacking in experience. Having gone through it before, the older guys, we knew what to expect, playing the demanding schedule at this level. We experienced ups and downs, like all teams do, but toward the end we started believing we had nothing to lose, trusting our team 1-through-9, and then we started clicking."

The Huskies are going to have to complete this growing-up process quickly. Virginia Tech comes from a league that has five teams hosting Regionals, including the No.1 overall seed in North Carolina. The Hokies, who have won eight of their past 10 games, went 15-14 in the ACC, losing the tournament final to the Tar Heels. This is the first time Virginia Tech is hosting a Regional.

"They're good, they're very good," UConn coach Jim Penders said. "They play very well at home. [Coach] Pete Hughes always has a lot of sluggers. If we play like we did Sunday afternoon [against Notre Dame], I like our chances against any team in the country. But having said that, we're going to get a heck of a test."

Va. Tech, ranked No. 16 in the most recent Baseball America poll, hit .290 as a team with five regulars over .300, and 52 home runs, averaging 6.5 runs a game. The team ERA was 4.31, but righthander Devin Burke, from Darien, was 10-3 with a 3.30 ERA. Ricky Hodges, also from Darien, and Colin O'Keefe, from Waterford, are other Connecticut kids playing at Virginia Tech. Outfielder Carson Helms, from Farmington, is red-shirting.

UConn is hitting .269 with 20 homers as a team. Mazzilli and freshman Vinny Siena (.302) are the only regulars over .300, but the Huskies got 16 hits against Notre Dame in the biggest game so far.

"Confidence is king," Penders said, "and right now, we have it."

Joining UConn and Virginia Tech in this Regional, which may be the most balanced of the 16 considering 1-through-4, are Oklahoma and Coastal Carolina (37-21, 18-6 in the Big South Conference), both perennial tournament teams, who will play at 1 p.m. Friday. Oklahoma (40-19) was 13-11, third in the Big 12, ranked 19th by Baseball America. The Sooners' top pitcher, righthander Jonathan Gray, 9-2 with a 1.55 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 110 innings, could be one of the first players selected in the MLB Draft.

"They're all good teams," Ferriter said, "but it's baseball. On any given day, you have a chance. You just have to show up."